20 Best Movie Performances Of 2016

Ryan Gosling adds yet another reason to love him as he actually learned piano for his role as jazz pianist Sebastian, and you know what? He's pretty damn great.

It helps, of course, that he's got the fantastic Emma Stone to play opposite, their easy chemistry making the entire movie an easy sell, but nobody excels more throughout the musical than the effortlessly likable Gosling.

Ably conveying the overwhelming power of creative desire and cementing the more pragmatic realities that inevitably abound in life, his turn is tinged with sadness, but is ultimately uplifting and highly entertaining.

Gosling could've easily ended up here for his work on Shane Black's The Nice Guys also, but the juggling act of skills that La La Land requires ultimately pushes it over the top.